Derek Jeter poaches Warriors exec to help run Marlins
In a Miami Marlins offseason that has been overwhelmingly characterized by subtractions — whether you’re talking about the players on the field or even the dude inside the mascot suit — new CEO Derek Jeter has added another champion to his front office.
According to Bloomberg, Jeter and the Marlins have poached an exec from the reigning NBA champs, the Golden State Warriors, to help the club meet Jeter’s more-than-modest revenue projections. Chip Bowers, the former Chief Marketing Officer for the Warriors, who will be the Marlins’ president of business operations, per Bloomberg’s Scott Soshnick, and report directly to Jeter:
Bowers will oversee many of the efforts to boost revenue, including finding a new naming-rights partner for Marlins Park and negotiating a new local television contract. The current deal with Fox Sports, which pays the team about $20 million a season — below what other teams in comparable markets get — expires in three years.
A spokesman for the Marlins declined to comment. Bowers didn’t immediately return a voice mail seeking comment on the job change.
Bowers is in his fifth season as marketing chief of the Warriors, for whom he oversees all marketing and corporate sales. He joined the team after four years as the vice president of corporate partnerships and marketing for the Orlando Magic. He began his career in professional sports as a sales executive with MLB’s San Diego Padres.
According to reports of Jeter’s business plan, he expects Marlins revenues to jump by $7.5 million next season even after trading away all the team’s best players — Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Dee Gordon and Marcell Ozuna.
While Bowers has a championship résumé, it’s safe to say that he also will have work cut out for him in Miami.
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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
